Jermaine Franklin hopes to beat Anthony Joshua mentally as much as physically when the pair meet in the ring this Saturday.
The two heavyweights fight at the O2 Arena in London live on DAZN , in a fight that marks a comeback for both men.
Joshua’s last two fights were defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, with the Ukrainian now the unified champion, while Franklin lost to former WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte in November.
Speaking to the Sporting Post , Franklin described the strategy he hopes to use against the former world champion.
He explained: “I will establish myself, come out there and fight my fight, I won’t let the hype get to me, just go out there and do what I'm best at, try to fight my fight and play mental games inside the ring.
“The mental side of the game is important, I don't think a lot of people talk about it. If I can frustrate you, I'm doing my job. If I can make you aggressive or angry then I'm doing my job on the mental side. If I can do stuff without allowing him to do stuff, it all plays on the mind. Whatever reaction he gives you, you then have to capitalise.”
The American continued: “I haven’t fought him yet so I can’t say if I'll be able to get him yet, but from some of the stuff I've seen - I don’t want to say he’s easy to get to - but he can be frustrated and he can be broken. It’s not like it’s impossible from what I've seen, it can be done. You just have to go about it in the right way.
“I’m a whole different person in the ring. I do a little bit of it all; I talk a bit of trash, make you miss or take all your strongest punches and then talk to you kind of reckless. I play all kinds of games in the ring. I really just see what avenue works for me once we’re in there.”
“Talking smack and taking guys power punches, not saying you want to take it flush on the chin, but when you fight strong guys and they see that they can’t hurt you as easily as they hurt everyone else, they have to change their approach.”